Golf Journal vs Pickleball Scoring Buddy
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Golf Journal
Track your golf performance with this app, logging rounds, practice sessions, scores, and media. Analyze your game with performance graphs and iCloud syncing. Ideal for golfers of all levels aiming to improve.
- Round diary and score tracking
- Practice session documentation
- Photo and video gallery
- Performance graphs
- iCloud syncing
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Golf Journal is a golf diary for your rounds, your practice and your handicap. Log a round from its total in about 20 seconds, or hole by hole, and watch your handicap estimate move as you play. ROUNDS • Log the total, or score hole by hole: strokes, putts, fairways, greens in regulation and penalties. • Out and In totals, and a scorecard with your birdies, bogeys and doubles marked. • Notes, a feel rating, photos and videos for every round. • Scan a paper scorecard: take a photo and the hole scores are read on your iPhone for you to check. • Golf workouts recorded with the Workout app on Apple Watch show up ready to become rounds, with the date filled in. HANDICAP ESTIMATE • Uses the World Handicap System formula: the best 8 of your last 20 rounds, with nine-hole rounds paired. • See your trend, which rounds count, which one drops out next and what score would bring your estimate down. • Course handicap for each set of tees, net score and Stableford points. • Have an official Handicap Index from your club? Enter it and Golf Journal uses it for course handicap, net and Stableford. It's an estimate to follow your game, not an official Handicap Index. COURSES • Tees with course rating, slope, par and yardage, and a scorecard with par and stroke index for every hole. • Look up courses near you or by name. Course data comes from OpenStreetMap. • Your average and best score at each course. PRACTICE • Log practice sessions: range, putting, chipping, bunker, on course, lessons and more, with time, balls and notes. • Keep your swing cues and drills from one session to the next. • Start the practice timer and fill in the rest when you finish. • Turn a round's notes into a plan for your next session. INSIGHTS • How often you make birdie, par, bogey and worse, and how you score on par 3s, 4s and 5s. • Your hardest holes, your scoring by course and by month, and where your practice time goes. • Set a goal, such as breaking 90 or getting down to 15, and see how far off it you are. ON ALL YOUR DEVICES • iCloud sync between your devices. No account to create; your diary stays on your devices and in your iCloud. • Widgets for your handicap estimate and your last round. • Siri and Shortcuts: "Log round", "Log practice", "What's my handicap". • A reminder when you haven't logged a round for a while. • Yards or meters. GOLF JOURNAL PRO Golf Journal is free for up to 3 rounds, 3 practice sessions and 2 courses. Golf Journal Pro removes the limits and adds export: your rounds as a spreadsheet (CSV) and a printable season report (PDF). Pro is available as a subscription or a one-time purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Payment is charged to your Apple Account. Manage or cancel your subscription in your App Store account settings. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://www.mygolfjournal.app/posts/privacy
Pickleball Scoring Buddy
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The Apple Watch scorekeeper for doubles pickleball — two taps to start, one tap per rally, and the correct call spoken at your wrist before every serve. NEVER LOSE THE SCORE AGAIN Score, server number, and serve rotation tracked under real doubles rules, including the first-serve exception. Play to 11, 15, or 21, win by 1 or 2 — your rules persist between games. NOTHING TO SET UP No names, no phone, no account. Tap where you're standing, tap who serves first, play. BUILT FOR REAL PLAY Big tap targets built for sweat. No Digital Crown input. Undo restores everything — score, server, positions — from any screen, including game over. A workout session keeps the app frontmost for the whole game, and the always-on display shows the current call. ONE TAP PER RALLY Tap the half of the screen for the rally winner. The watch confirms with a haptic and speaks the next call. That's the entire job. No ads, no analytics, no data collected. Free.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Pickleball Scoring Buddy at none against Golf Journal's 5. Pickleball Scoring Buddy also leads on iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). Golf Journal's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 4 weeks). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Golf Journal sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Pickleball Scoring Buddy asks for nothing beyond the download.
Golf Journal ships an update weekly, Pickleball Scoring Buddy every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Golf Journal | Pickleball Scoring Buddy |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (12 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 12 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 4 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Freemium | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 13 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Gruffydd Johnston | Lloyd Financial Consulting LLC |
In-app purchases
Golf Journal
- Pro7 Days trial$2.991 Month
- Pro7 Days trial$4.991 Month
- Pro7 Days trial$9.991 Year
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- Pro7 Days trial$19.991 Year
- Lifetime$49.99
Pickleball Scoring Buddy
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Golf Journal free?
Is Pickleball Scoring Buddy free?
Do Golf Journal or Pickleball Scoring Buddy have ads?
Which is updated more often, Golf Journal or Pickleball Scoring Buddy?
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